The $55.8 million dual gauge rail line from Acacia Ridge to Bromelton remains unfinished

IT’S the multi-million dollar economic stimulus project no government department will take responsibility for.

The beginnings of a dual gauge rail line was laid from Acacia Ridge to a proposed freight centre at Bromelton south of Brisbane, as part of a $55.8 million scheme announced by the former Rudd Government in 2009.

But five years later the dual gauge line is unfinished, with train enthusiasts saying that unused crossings are rusting away.

On October 22, 2009, a press release from former infrastructure minister Anthony Albanese said timber sleepers between Acacia Ridge and the Queensland border would be replaced with 105,000 concrete sleepers.

While they were replaced, rail enthusiast Allan Ward said this track was only secured to one sleeper in “every eight or so (and) crossings are still lying by the side of the track”.

Rail Back on Track’s Robert Dow said he was curious about the status of the Bromelton freight centre.

“Our roads are being pounded by trucks when their loads could have been moved by freight,” he said.

A spokesman for Australian Rail Track Corporation, the body that leased the rail corridor, said it was asked to dual gauge the track as a condition of its agreement with the State Government.

A Queensland Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning spokesman would not say when the freight centre would open.

“The Queensland Government is continuing to work closely with the local council, developers and infrastructure providers to realise the potential of the Bromelton state development area and deliver on the government’s election promise to grow the Queensland economy,” the spokesman said.